October 17, 2017

How to Check What Your State Pension Will Be

Nick Pensions & Benefits pensions, benefits 2 Comments

Today I thought I would discuss the state pension. This is a subject that concerns everyone, but may be of particular interest to readers of this blog who are approaching retirement age.

Of course, many people have one or more workplace or private pensions. However, the state pension is still a very important component of most people’s income in later life.

And unlike many workplace/private pensions, it rises automatically every year at the rate of inflation or above (under the current triple lock guarantee). That makes it increasingly valuable as you get older.

In this article I’ll be revealing how to check how much state pension you are due and when. But I’ll start with a look at the various changes to the state pension in the last few years and how they affect anyone coming up to pensionable age now.

Speaking of which, let’s start with one of the biggest changes…

Table of Contents

Your State Pension Age

It’s unlikely to have escaped your notice that the pension age is rising. At present men can access their state pension at 65 while women get it at around 64. The age for women is in transition at the moment as it rises to equalize with men in 2018.

By 2020, the pension age for both men and women will go up to 66. Between 2026 and 2028 it is due to rise again to 67, and under current government plans it will go up again to 68 in 2037.

You can check when exactly you can start to claim the state pension by entering your date of birth and gender at this government website.

The New Flat Rate Pension

This is the other major change to the state pension in recent years.

Prior to April 2016 everyone received a basic pension (currently £122.30 a week). This was (and still is) topped up by additional state pension elements (S2P and Serps) which you accrued during your working life.

Anyone retiring from April 2016 onwards now receives a ‘flat rate’ pension currently worth £159.55 a week. If, however, you ‘contracted out’ of S2P and Serps at some point in your working life, you may get less than this. The presumption is that your contracted-out pension will provide another source of income for you, so you don’t need (or qualify for) the full flat-rate pension.

A further complication is that the government doesn’t want people who accrued large state pension entitlements under the old scheme (basic pension plus S2P and SERPS) to miss out. So when you reach pension age your entitlement under both the old and new methods of calculation will be worked out and you will receive the larger of the two. That means some people could actually qualify for more than the new flat-rate pension (£159.55 currently). If this is the case, it will be shown separately as a ‘protected payment’ on your state pension statement.

Also, to get the maximum new flat-rate pension you need to have at least 35 years of qualifying National Insurance contributions at the full (non-contracted-out) rate. If you have less than that you will get a reduced pension; and if less than 10 years, nothing at all.

In some circumstances – which I’ll discuss shortly – you may be able to pay a lump sum to fill in gaps in your record. Even if you do have 35 years or more of contributions, though, it may not entitle you to a full pension. The government website (see below) tells me I have 37 years of contributions, but because I was contracted-out for some of these years and so paying a lower rate of National Insurance I still have to contribute for another three years to get the full flat-rate pension. Here’s a screen capture of my actual statement:

If you’re confused by all this, I’m not surprised. The rules are complicated and still being tweaked. So to avoid any nasty surprises it’s important to check what you are due to receive as well as when you are due to do so. There is now an official website where you can access all this information in one place.

Checking Your State Pension

Anyone aged 55 or over who has lived and worked in the UK for 10 years or more (even if they are not British citizens) can now visit https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension to get an estimate of how much state pension they will receive when they retire.

Doing this is a bit more involved than just checking your start date on the pension age site mentioned earlier. You have to sign in with proof of identity, so allow a bit of time for this. If you already have an HMRC online tax account, the good news is you can use this to log in.

Once you’ve done so, you will see a forecast of how much state pension you will get once you’re eligible to start receiving it. This is based on current figures, so if you won’t reach retirement age for a few years yet, it will of course have risen by that time.

Boosting Your State Pension

If you’re disappointed by the amount forecast, one thing you can do to boost your state pension is defer taking it. Under the new rules you will receive an extra 1% for every 9 weeks you put off claiming.

Obviously, to benefit from this overall you should be in good health. For women especially, as their life expectancy tends to be a few years longer than men, deferring your pension (if you can afford to do so) could well be a profitable option. In a way this is a form of investment, underwritten by the government.

No special action is required to defer taking your pension. You just delay claiming and it will be assumed that you wish to defer it.

Another thing you may be able to do to boost your state pension is buy extra voluntary contributions to fill in any gaps in your record. Buying a year of extra contributions (normally Class 3 National Insurance) costs around £733 and will boost your pension by around £230 or £4600 over a 20-year retirement. This can be well worth doing if, for example, you were contracted out for several years.

There are some restrictions, however. In particular, as a general rule it must be done within six years of the end of the tax year concerned. So if the gaps in your record go back further than this, it’s unlikely you will be allowed to make up the whole shortfall in this way.

There’s also the question whether paying voluntary contributions to fill gaps in your record will be cost-effective for you. There is no easy way of calculating this, and I highly recommend getting advice from an independent financial adviser specializing in pensions if you are thinking of going down this route. It’s also a good idea to contact the government’s Future Pension Centre to find out what your options are.

Finally , it should be said that while the state pension provides a baseline income (currently equivalent to around £8,300 a year), on its own it won’t stretch to many (or any) luxuries. Most people will have private or workplace pensions and perhaps other investments as well, and this will be very important if you hope to enjoy your retirement rather than merely survive it. I will look at these in more detail in future posts.

As ever, if you have any comments or questions on this post, please do leave them below.

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October 10, 2017

How to Invest for Income from High-Yield Share Dividends

Nick Investing guest post 19 Comments

Today I have a guest post for you from my fellow money blogger Lewys Lew, who blogs at The Frugal Student.

Lewys has a particular interest in dividend investment. As I know this is a subject of interest to many readers of this blog, I asked him to write about it here.

Over to Lewys, then…

I watched the Conservative party conference in despair!

Not because I’m a Conservative but because once again the vultures circle Theresa May and Brexit seems to be going backwards.

Not that I voted to leave, but this constant uncertainty unsettles me and the market.

To add a cherry on top of bad news, productivity in the UK has begun shrinking and we’re no better off than we were in 2007.

What this means for you and me is that the economy continues to struggle and along with that interest rates remain dire.

Sure, for those of us who save a few pounds a month there are some decent bank accounts out there that offer 2%+ interest but these usually come straddled with a set of conditions and maximum deposits.

For those with large sums lying dormant in bank accounts the deals on offer are pitiful. With the current rate of inflation, your cash-pile may even be worth less.

In this post, I’m going to share with you how you could earn 5% in interest yearly.

Before we begin, there are a few things to note:

If you use this method your money is at risk.
To reduce risk, you should be prepared to lock your money up for 5+ years.
This method may not be suitable if you’ll need to use this money in an emergency
(remember to always keep six months’ worth of expenditure in an easy-access account)
Here’s some key terminology before we start:

Dividend = Money a company pays to you as a reward for being a share-holder.

Dividend Yield/Yield = A dividend as a percentage of a current share price, as so:

Dividend per share/Price per share.

Table of Contents

Right, let’s get stuck in!

Dividend investing is a vast field. Myself, I’m a dividend growth investor. At 24 years old, I seek to buy stakes in companies who are growing their dividend at a rapid pace. Over time these types of stocks often increase their dividends at higher rates than companies who already pay a dividend at a higher yield.

But for those who maybe don’t have the benefit of a 30-year investment horizon, dividend yield investing may be a better choice for you. Frankly, getting just 1% of invested monies back as a dividend each year isn’t going to satisfy you if you’re close to retirement or retired.

The good news is that there’s an alternative dividend investing method that could see you getting 5% of your invested monies back each year, along with some capital gains along the way.

I’ll illustrate dividend yield investing with this example…

National Grid is a very boring, steadily performing utility company. It owns and manages the UK’s grid structure along with some bits in the United States and in return is allowed to make a modest profit from its operations. It’s a monopoly, meaning that we don’t need to worry about competition or anything of that sort.

As we can see from the graphic below (from the Hargeaves Lansdown website), National Grid pays a 5.15% dividend. This effectively means that for every £100 you invest, you’ll get £5.15 back every year.

The good news is that National Grid buys back its own shares, pushing up the capital value of your holding and reducing the possibility of capital loss over the long term (5+ years).

Dividend investing can be especially powerful if you use your dividends to buy more shares.

£1,000 worth of National Grid shares would let you buy around 5 additional shares with the dividend after one year. Compound this over the years and you could really start building a decent stream of dividend income.

Pros and Cons of High Yield Investing

Cons

When dividend yields go over 6%, this can be an indication that the stock is risky, as investors are fleeing the stock, thus reducing the share price and increasing the dividend yield (as this is relative to the price).
Stock prices could fall below your original purchase price and dividend income combined, leading to a net loss.
A large capital deposit is needed to make this method really effective; small amounts won’t really go a long way.
You have to pay to buy/sell stocks.
Identifying safe higher yield stocks can be difficult and time-consuming.

Pros

A 5+% dividend yield smashes any bank account out there.
The combination of steady stock price rises and dividend income can really boost your savings.
Large and ‘boring’ companies such as National Grid are very resilient and it’s relatively unlikely that you’d find yourself at a capital loss if you held such stocks over five years.
Remember that other investments can carry large risks and costs too. One such example is buying a rental property, where bad tenants, maintenance costs and the hassle can eat away at returns. By investing in a large company you won’t need to do anything else. Just sit back and soak up the dividends!

How Do I Buy Shares?

If you’re interested in building yourself a dividend income later on in life (40+) then I would certainly recommend chasing higher yields from boring large companies such as National Grid.

In order to buy shares you’ll have to sign up with a broker.

The most popular in the UK is Hargreaves Lansdown, but this platform charges a management fee of 0.45% annually, in the case of National Grid lowering your net income from 5.15% to 4.7%. They also charge £11.95 for share repurchases and 1% for dividend reinvestment.

To really reap the benefits of this strategy, I’d recommend signing up with online brokers De Giro, who only charge £1.75 a trade with no management fee.

If you like the idea of dividend yield investing but the risk is a little too high for you, I recommend you take a look at my Nutmeg Investment Review for a platform that manages your portfolio for you.

Many thanks to Lewys (pictured, right) for an eye-opening article.

Personally I have tended to stick with self-selected funds and ready-made portfolios (including Nutmeg) for my core investments, but I can certainly see the attraction of high-yield share dividend investing for part of my portfolio – especially as (being semi-retired) I am now looking to generate an income from my savings.

Another thing in favour of dividend yield investing is that there is a generous annual tax-free dividend allowance (which most people don’t make use of). Currently you can earn up to £5000 a year in dividends before any tax is due. The government has threatened to reduce this to £2000, but even if that happens the allowance is still well worth taking advantage of, as it comes in addition to other tax-free saving and investment opportunities such as ISAs.

If you have any comments or questions about this post, as always, please do leave them below.

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October 6, 2017

Get Guaranteed Cash Prizes from this Promotion by Circle

Nick Making Money events 0 Comments

A quickie today to let you know about a special promotion that is currently being run by the online payment platform Circle.

Anyone is welcome to enter their Education or Every Nation promo, whether or not they have an account with Circle already (if you don’t, you will need to sign up for free).

Everyone entering goes into a draw for a prize of a round-the-world trip or getting their university fees paid off – your choice. Luckily for me, I went to uni in the days students got grants rather than loans, so I asked for the world trip 🙂

But in addition, you get a guaranteed mystery cash prize of anywhere from 50p to £50 credited to your account. I got £0.61, but a colleague received £2.67. You can also introduce friends and relatives to this promotion (once you have entered yourself). For each one who signs up via your referral link – which is provided once you enter – you will get an extra prize draw entry and another mystery cash prize.

If you are a member of Prolific Academic – one of my favourite sideline earning opportunities – you may well have a Circle account already. It is a bit like PayPal, except the fees are lower!

Click here to enter this promo. Good luck, and please do leave a comment below saying how much you won!

Finally, please note that this is a limited-term promotion. I will aim to update this post as soon I know that it has closed, but to avoid disappointment I recommend entering as soon as possible.

Disclaimer: This post includes my referral link, so if you enter the promotion by clicking on it, I will get an extra entry as well.

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October 4, 2017

Earn a Sideline Income as a Viewing Agent with Viewber

Nick Making Money property 10 Comments

Today I want to share a sideline-earning opportunity that may be of interest if you have a bit of time available during the week or at weekends.

A company called Viewber is recruiting people to conduct property viewings on behalf of local estate agents who don’t have any staff free to do it themselves.

As a Viewber (the name is also used by the company to describe its viewing agents) you will be asked to attend a property at a specified date and time to show a potential buyer or tenant round.

You will therefore need to obtain the key beforehand (or get it from a key safe), welcome viewers when they arrive, and let them in. You then follow at a discreet distance while they look round, answer any questions they may have (or refer them to the estate agent), show them out, and secure the property again.

You are also asked to report in writing to the estate agent afterwards with any information you have gleaned about the viewers that might be useful to them, e.g. if they are cash buyers or have looked at a lot of other properties already.

Who Can Do It?

In principle anyone can be a Viewber. You need to be reasonably smart and professional looking (as with estate agents generally). And, of course, you will need a polite and friendly manner and good communication skills.

The job is popular with retired and semi-retired individuals (like many readers of this blog) who are looking to supplement their income. It also attracts quite a few people who are ex-military or police, as well as former teachers, estate agents and other professionals. But any experience working with the public will be relevant and should assist your application.

Having your own transport is clearly desirable (though you can specify how far from home you are willing to travel). You will also need a mobile phone to contact the estate agents when required.

How To Apply

Initially this is just a matter of filling in a short online application form.

Although this asks about experience and qualifications in the property field, this is definitely not a requirement (I had neither but was accepted without quibble).

You are also required to upload a photograph of yourself so that the company can see you don’t look like an escaped convict.

You can expect to receive a reply to your application within a few days. Mine came by email. I was accepted on the basis of my application and photo, without any need for an interview.

You will then have to go through the company’s vetting procedure. This involves providing a copy of your driving licence or passport and a recent utility bill or bank statement showing your name and address. You will also need to provide bank details, so they can pay you.

Once you’re fully approved, you will be able to log in to your personal dashboard on the Viewber website. Here you will be able to view a range of information, including details of any jobs you have completed so far. You can also enter on a calendar any periods you are unavailable (e.g. on holiday).

Then it’s simply a matter of waiting for invitations to arrive by email. You aren’t under any obligation to accept these if you’re otherwise engaged – but if you do want to accept, you will need to do so quickly, before the job gets taken by someone else.

What It Pays

The basic pay is £20 for a single viewing of up to 30 minutes. Additionally if you have to travel by car there is a mileage allowance of 25p a mile, or £4 travel allowance in London.

If you are conducting multiple viewings at the same time or an ‘open house’ you will be paid more, up to £135 for a full day.

Additional fees are payable for taking (non-professional) photos of the property if requested and other services such as performing a property inspection.

Top Tips

Here are a few more tips on making the most of this opportunity.

Both viewers and agents can rate Viewbers, and this can affect the type and number of opportunities you are offered. It’s important to provide the best service you possibly can, therefore.
You will be sent information about the property concerned beforehand, so read this carefully and make a note of any particular things a viewer might want to know about.
There is also an online manual for Viewbers, so again read this carefully. It’s only a few pages long but covers most of the things you need to be aware of.
Greet viewers by name and be prepared to answer any general questions they may have, e.g. about the area if you’re familiar with it. For more detailed questions about the property, though, refer them to the estate agent. If possible, phone the agent there and then on the number provided.
Take sensible precautions to ensure your personal safety, e.g. always let someone know where you’re going and how long you expect to be out. The Suzy Lamplugh Trust has a web page listing safety devices, apps and services for lone workers.

Viewber is still new, which means there are currently more opportunities in some areas than in others. However, that does mean now is a great time to apply and start gaining experience, with the prospect of more work in the coming months as the service gains traction among estate agents.

In my view, if you want an interesting and varied sideline income stream – and enjoy meeting people and looking round houses – applying to be a Viewber has a lot to recommend it!

Note: This blog post is adapted from an article I originally wrote for the Creating Wealth newsletter.

House image © Copyright Roger Cornfoot and licensed for re-use under this Creative Commons Licence

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September 21, 2017

Win Cash and Prizes with Lucky Leftovers

Nick Making Money 2 Comments

If you own an Android smartphone, here’s a great risk-free opportunity to win cash and prizes from it.

Lucky Leftovers is an Android app that takes advantage of your monthly text allowance. Nowadays most people get ‘unlimited’ texts on their mobile contracts, but unless perhaps they are teenagers they may only send a few texts a month. Lucky Leftovers allows you to put this mostly wasted allowance to good use.

Once you are signed up with Lucky Leftovers – which is free – you can enter any of the giveaways listed. You can enter just once or (better) daily. Once you have chosen the contests you want to enter, the app (in conjunction with your phone) will submit entries for you every day, with no other input required from you.

Just to make clear, these are not the type of contest where you are charged a fee per text (which I don’t recommend at all). So long as you have an inclusive monthly or prepaid contract and stay within your allowance, you will not be charged anything for entering these contests.

If you are lucky you will win a prize, but even if not you will get a point for every entry. The points can be converted to Amazon vouchers or cash in your PayPal account once you have earned £5 or more (see What Are Points Worth? below).

The prizes aren’t spectacular, but they aren’t bad either. Here is a screen capture showing some of them…

Other prizes on offer at the time of writing include Bluetooth speakers, headphones, a trip up the London Shard, two Lion King tickets, a remote-controlled drone, a PlayStation 4, and plain old cash. If you win a prize but don’t want it, you can usually request a cash equivalent.

As you may have noticed, many of the giveaways are also raising money for charities.

Table of Contents

What are points worth?

I’ll resist the temptation to say “What do Points Make? Prizes!” (rest in peace, Sir Bruce).

Each point on Lucky Leftovers is worth £0.001p. In other words, 10 points are worth a penny, 100 are 10p, 1000 are £1, and 5000 are £5.00.

£5 is the minimum threshold to request a payment. You might think it will take a long time to accumulate 5000 points, but actually if you submit 5000 prize-draw entries a month, that would give you £5 every month (plus any prizes you win, of course).

That’s not the whole of it, though…

Extra ways to earn points

As mentioned, you get one point for every entry, including automated entries.

There are other ways to earn points as well, though. You can do so by watching short videos (typically promoting games) via the app. You seem to get anywhere between 10 and 30 points per video you watch, so this can boost your total quite quickly.

In addition, you can earn points by purchasing via selected retailers listed on the app (see screen capture below). You get ‘cashback’ on these purchases, which is paid to you in the form of points.

Finally, you can get extra points by referring other people or joining via someone else’s referral link. More about this below!

Watch your limits

I said earlier that most people nowadays have an ‘unlimited’ texts allowance, but that doesn’t apply to everyone. If you are on a cheap deal there may be an upper limit every month, and you don’t want to exceed this or you will start being charged extra. You should also to allow for the fact that you may want to send some text messages to friends and relatives yourself, so you need to leave a few in reserve!

Even if you do have an ‘unlimited’ allowance, so-called fair usage restrictions typically apply. A common one is an upper limit of 5000 texts a month. Again, you don’t want to exceed this. Check with your provider if you are unsure what your monthly limits are.

The good news is that Lucky Leftovers allows you to set maximum daily and monthly texting limits on your Settings page. You can start low to test the water if you like, and increase the numbers as you gain confidence. That’s what I did, incidentally.

Will you be spammed?

This is obviously a concern with any app of this nature, but my experience so far has been entirely positive. I have not received a single spam text or phone call as a result of using the app. This has also been the experience of others using the app longer than I have.

Get 500 points through me!

As mentioned earlier, Lucky Leftovers has a referral scheme that lets you earn points by referring others. So here is my referral link. If you click through this and install the app, you will be credited with 500 points (worth 50p), and so will I. That’s a nice little bonus to start you on the way to your first £5!

Good luck if you do decide to join up with Lucky Leftovers. I hope you win lots of points and prizes.

If you have any comments or questions, as always, please do leave them below.

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September 14, 2017

An Essential Guide to Writing Your Will (Infographic)

Nick Everything Else 2 Comments

Today I’m bringing you an infographic created by I Will, a firm of solicitors who specialize in will writing.

I thought this summed up very well the importance of making a will and having it done properly, so I wanted to share it with readers of this blog. It’s quite a long graphic, so please take a little time to scroll down it, and I’ll see you at the other end!

Thanks again to I Will Solicitors (not an affiliate link) for permission to use their graphic. There are some valuable tips in it, not least the advice to use a properly qualified solicitor. In the last few years I have had a couple of experiences when failing to do this has caused problems..

One actually concerned the will of my late partner. We had created mirror wills some years before, using a well-known postal will-writing service. At their suggestion we named the will-writing company as joint executors, as their representative said this meant they would be able to step in and help if required.

Sadly my partner passed away and I then discovered that having the company as a named executor meant I couldn’t have the local solicitor I wanted handle the estate on my behalf. It took several months (and a lot of hassle I could really have done without) to get them to renounce their interest in the will so that my preferred legal firm could take over.

Another instance concerned a family member who passed away earlier this year. I don’t want to go into detail about this, for obvious reasons, but he had used a family friend who ran a will-writing service to create his will. The will was poorly drafted and did not make clear exactly how the estate should be divided up. The result was a bitter dispute between two of the main beneficiaries, which ended with an outcome that was probably far from what he had intended.

So my top tips with wills would be (a) make sure you have one, (b) have it drawn up by a qualified solicitor, and (c) give careful thought to whom you name as executor. For other advice, please refer to the infographic above!

If you have any comments or questions, as ever, please do post them below.

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September 6, 2017

How to Save Money on Days Out With Your Grandchildren

Nick Saving Money 0 Comments

Today I’m delighted to bring you a guest post from my UK money blogging colleague Fiona Hawkes.

Fiona’s post covers a subject I am sure many readers of this blog will be able to relate to – how to have a great day out with the grandchildren without spending a fortune.

Over to Fiona, then…

There are currently around 14 million grandparents in the UK and more and more of them are taking on the role of childminder for their grandchildren, as growing costs mean that more families need both parents to work to make ends meet.

One in three over-fifties in the UK are grandparents and they help families cut the costs of more formal childcare arrangements – especially during the long six-week summer holidays.

But some grandparents may find that the continual extra mouths to feed and days of entertaining the little darlings are having an impact on their own finances. While the older generation of course love their children and grandchildren and want to help out however they can, it shouldn’t come at the expense of their own financial health.

While this generation of grandparents may be the ones who know how to be thrifty and make do and mend, they may not be quite so savvy when it comes to saving money online, for example.

I realise most grandparents may already have plenty of thrifty ideas for days out – picnics in the park, feeding the ducks, museums, etc – so in this post I am going to discuss ways to save money on the more expensive days out, e.g. to theme parks and attractions.

While they may not be the sort of thing you want to (or could afford to!) do every day, I do think children and adults alike look forward to days out doing something fun and different, such as country farms, zoos and trips to the cinema.

Saving on Trips To Adventure Parks, Zoos and Farms

Down here in Somerset there are several local attractions that we usually try and make a visit to during the summer holidays. These include Crealy Adventure Park, Woodlands, Longleat Safari Park and Bristol Zoo. I know there are similar parks dotted all over the country and there are bound to be similar ones near you. Wherever you are based, though, there is bound to be one thing in common – entry is not cheap.

Here are my tips for saving on adventurous days out with your grandchildren.

Book online. Most places offer discounts of between 10% and 20% if you pre-book tickets up to 48 hours in advance.
Check out sites like Groupon and Living Social for discounted tickets and cheaper entry special events. Bristol Zoo, for example, has special evening events throughout the year.
Some places offer a ‘return in the next 7 days for free’ – plan in advance to ensure you are able to take up this offer and get two days out for the price of one.
Most pubs, shopping centres, etc, have leaflets offering discount vouchers – look out for these and pick a few up when you see them.
Use OAP discounts and Family tickets wherever you can.
Annual membership could save hundreds if you live close to a popular attraction and plan to go there often. If you’ve already bought tickets for that day they will often be deducted from the cost of an annual pass.
Look out for free open days – I recently attended one that offered free tractor rides and animal petting at a local farm.

Saving on Trips to The Cinema

Trips to the cinema can soon start adding up – tickets alone can be as much as £10 each (I’m looking at you, Odeon!) and that’s before adding in drinks, sweets and popcorn!

If you’ve used Compare the Market in the last year and opted in then you should be entitled to 2 for 1 cinema tickets at participating cinemas on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. You can download the app, apply the code when booking online or print it out to show at the cinema. If you haven’t used Compare the Market before buy inexpensive travel insurance once and get 2 for 1 tickets for a year. Valid for two people. Don’t forget to check this is cheaper than a family ticket. Plus, this offer can be used when you don’t have the grandchildren too!
During the school holidays and most Saturdays and Sundays many cinemas have cheap kids’ movies being screened. These films tend to be older ones that have been around a while but tickets are much cheaper and usually the same price for adults and children. Showings are usually in the morning, around 10am, and will be called something like ‘Kids AM’ or ‘Kids Club’.
Take you own (well hidden) drinks and snacks. Wilko’s is our favorite for pick ‘n’ mix and Poundland is great for 2 for £1 bottles of fizzy drink and £1 bags of chocolates.

Saving on Eating out in the Holidays

Eating out in the holidays with grandchildren can be tricky. Places like McDonald’s offer a quick fix but aren’t really what can be considered a ‘nice’ dining experience. Go to somewhere ‘family friendly’ like Harvester and the cost soon starts to creep up. Try these tips for saving on eating out with grandchildren.

Loads of places offer ‘Kids eat free’ or ‘Kids eat for £1’ during the holidays. Find a list online and plan your days around where it’s cheap (but nice!) to eat.
Tastecard offers 2 for 1 meals at lots of chain restaurants including Prezzo, Zizzi and Ask as well as many local eateries too. If you can’t save on the kids’ meals at least you can save on the grown ups! Tastecard is around £30 for a year but we usually make that back after two meals out. [Note from Nick: You can get the similar Gourmet Society discount card for just £3.99 if you get an NUS Extra card, as described in this recent post.]
Wherever you plan to eat, always check for vouchers online before you go or download a vouchers app such as vouchercloud.
With older children and teens who have a big appetite, something like Pizza Hut’s Pizza buffet is a great choice as they can eat as much as they like for one set price. It can also be great for fussy eaters as if they don’t like something they can choose something different without it costing any more money.

I hope you find these tips helpful in planning some cheaper days out with your grandchildren!

Byline: Fiona Hawkes (pictured, right) is a personal finance blogger who loves saving money almost as much as she loves spending it. She saves hard to be able to live better, afford a few small luxuries and see a bit more of the world. Fiona blogs at www.savvyinsomerset.com. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Many thanks to Fiona for an enjoyable and thought-provoking article. Do you have any additional tips to share for having a great day out with the grandchildren (or children) without it breaking the bank? If so, please do post them below!

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September 1, 2017

Active 10 – A Free Fitness App to Get You Walking!

Nick Everything Else health 4 Comments

According to a recent story in The Telegraph, Britain is in the middle of a laziness epidemic. This applies especially to over-40s, with four in ten failing to manage even one 10 minute brisk walk a month.

The effect of all this inactivity can be devastating. It is estimated that physical inactivity directly contributes to one in six deaths in the UK. On the other hand, Public Health England (PHE) say that one brisk walk a day is enough to cut the risk of early death by as much as 15 per cent. It can also prevent or delay the onset of disability, and further reduce the risk of serious health conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, dementia and some cancers.

To encourage middle-aged and older people to get more active, PHE has launched a free smartphone app called Active 10. As the name suggests, this aims to encourage adults to do at least 10 minutes’ brisk walk every day.

The app is available for both Apple and Android phones, and is quick and easy to install. Using sensors in your phone, the app measures when you’ve reached a target speed (about 3 miles an hour) and when you keep that going for 10 minutes.

The app allows for the fact that you might have to stop at traffic lights or for some other reason, so you can slow down for up to 2 minutes of any 10 minute period and this will still count as an Active 10.

You can set your own targets, maybe starting with just one Active 10 a day and going up to two or more as you build your fitness. You can also do longer walks – Active 20, say – for even greater health benefits.

Active 10 is aimed at those in the 40 to 60 age group, but in my view many people over 60 could benefit equally (or even more) by using it. I like the fact that 10 minutes a day isn’t too daunting to start off with, even for couch potatoes like me, but can still bring you considerable health benefits.

I am already enjoying using the app and there is a surprising amount of satisfaction in achieving your daily goals and seeing them recorded on the app.

As they say at the end of the Active 10 homepage, stop scrolling and start strolling 😀

Or if you prefer cycling to walking, you can get bike discounts here!

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August 24, 2017

How to Get an NUS Extra Card Even If You’re Not a Student

Nick Saving Money travel, food 3 Comments

I saw a great blog post by my fellow money blogger Andy Webb this week that I wanted to share with my own readers.

Andy runs a popular blog called Be Clever With Your Cash. In his latest blog post he reveals a way anyone can quite legitimately get their hands on an NUS Extra card, whether or not they are a student. As far as I know there are no age limits either.

Once you have your NUS Extra card – which if you use the method Andy describes will cost you £13.50 – you will qualify for student discounts on a huge range of products and services. Some of the best discounts mentioned by Andy include:

Apple student discount – If you’re going to buy an iMac, iPad or Macbook then having an NUS card means you can get the Education Discount. It’s worth up to 10% off, and if you buy in August and September Andy says you can usually get some free Beats headphones thrown in.

Spotify student discount – Spotify Premium normally costs £9.99. Students can get it for just £5 a month. Apple Music has a similar deal.

Cinema student discounts – Most cinemas will have a discount for students, but Andy says the best is Odeon, which offers an extra 25% off student prices Monday to Thursday.

Amazon Prime student discount – Students get six-months free with Amazon Prime, then pay just £39 a year for three years. That’s an amazing deal and makes paying £13.50 for an NUS card well worth doing on its own.

STA Travel student flights – Andy says he and his partner have used their ISICs (which now come as standard on one-year NUS cards) to get huge discounts on flights. “This year though I’ve noticed a few additional restrictions. Virgin and British Airways have added an age limit of around 30 or 32 years old. I don’t know about other airlines, but it’s ruled me out! However if you can get these, the savings can be massive.”

The full method is described in Andy’s blog post, which I urge you to click through and read. But briefly it involves signing up for a distance learning course with an NUS-approved institution such as Shaw Academy. The latter offers a wide range of inexpensive courses on subjects ranging from Photo Shop to financial trading. But if you don’t want to pay anything at all, you can cancel before their 30 days’ free-trial period is up. You will still be able to apply for an NUS Extra card, costing £12 a year plus £1.50 post and packing.

A further benefit is that as an NUS member you can get a Gourmet Society card for just £3.99 a year (a considerable discount on the normal price). If you enjoy dining out at restaurants, you could save a lot of money using this card (up to 50% on food and drinks), even if you do get the odd snarky comment about being a bit old to be a student (just tell them you believe in life-long learning!).

Thank you to Andy for a valuable and eye-opening post. If you have any comments or questions about this, as always, please do post them below.

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August 11, 2017

How to Choose Your Next Mobile Phone!

Nick Saving Money sponsored post 0 Comments

As a home-based worker of a certain age, I must admit I was slow to see the benefit of mobile phones, but wouldn’t be without mine now. I have a mid-range Samsung J5 smartphone and use it all the time at home and when I’m out.

And, of course, for older people generally, having a phone with you is a reassurance in case of accident or emergency, and lets you stay in touch with family and friends wherever you are.

Nowadays the mobile phone market is hugely competitive and you can choose from a vast range of handsets and tariffs. But I’ll start with a word about the most basic choice of all…

Smartphones vs Dumbphones

The first decision you have to make is between a simple mobile phone that just does voice and texts (sometimes called a dumbphone) and a smartphone that allows you to receive emails, browse the internet, and much more.

If all you want is a phone for staying in touch with family and/or emergency use, a dumbphone may be sufficient. They do have the advantage of very long battery life, and they are obviously cheaper.

On the other hand, if you want to be able to receive emails, Facebook updates, WhatsApp messages and more, only a smartphone will do. And only a smartphone will let you look up recipes, watch online video, check bus and train timetables, read maps and weather forecasts, buy things on Amazon and other online stores, and much more.

There is, of course, no objection to having a cheap dumbphone (e.g. in the car in case you break down) and a smartphone as well for all the extra features it can offer.

Choosing Your Phone

If you want a smartphone especially there are many considerations to take into account, including brand, operating system, screen size, memory, camera, SIM (network card), cost, contract length, and so on.

All very well if you’re a mobile phone fanatic, but what if you’re an ordinary individual who simply wants to get the right phone for their needs without paying over the odds for it?

If that sounds like you, a new website called mobilephonechecker is well worth a look. It’s been set up by the same person who made the tools on the well-known Moneysaving Expert website, which is a good recommendation in itself. The site is free to use, and can save you an awful lot of time, hassle and – most importantly! – money.

Mobilephonechecker has a simple, uncluttered design (see below) and is very easy to use. As you will see, the main menu runs across the top of the screen.

The main sections are as follows:

Contracts – This lets you compare contract deals (handset and SIM) from a wide range of providers. If you’re starting from scratch – and you want a smartphone with all the features they offer – this is a great place to start.

Build Your Own – On this page you can specify exactly what handset and SIM you want and compare quotes from a range of providers. This is brilliant if you know exactly what phone and network services you require.

PAYG Sims – Pay As You Go SIM cards are a very popular option among occasional mobile phone users in particular. If you have a handset already and just want a PAYG SIM card to go in it, this is the page to look.

PAYG Phones – And if you want a Pay As You Go phone, here’s the place to find one. I was amazed by how cheap some of these models were. If you’re not bothered about looking cool and trendy, you can find a basic PAYG phone here for under a tenner.

SIM Only – If you already have a smartphone and just need a SIM card for it, this page shows you the options. You can search here for a deal that includes the right mix of calls, data and texts for your needs. Contracts range from a month to a year and over.

SIM Free – Here you can compare handsets that are sold unlocked with no SIM card, so you can use a PAYG SIM or SIM-only deal, as you prefer. Hundreds of handsets are listed here, costing from £10 upwards.

Other Tools – This section has links to special offers on phones, e.g. Amazon Warehouse deals, which are well worth checking out. There is also a free text reminder service, which you can set to notify you when your current contract is close to expiring. There is a page listing refurbished phones and also one you can use to find out about upgrades if you are with EE, O2 or Vodafone (for other networks, you’ll need to use their own website or contact their customer services team directly).

Guides – Finally, in this section you can read articles about a variety of mobile-phone related matters, including cashback deals, network coverage, number porting, what is 4G, and so on.

If you need a new mobile or are reaching the end of your current contract, it’s important to spend some time assessing your options carefully. This way you can ensure that whatever you get meets your personal requirements and doesn’t cost a penny more than it has to. In my view, the Mobilephonechecker website is an invaluable resource for doing this.

As always, if you have any comments or questions about this post, please do leave them below,.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post for which I am receiving a fee. I am not employed by mobilephonechecker and have no other financial interest in the site.

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